A few days after Sun Wanrong left, Li Dayu also came to resign and leave. Xue Shao didn't keep him, he brought out almost all the soldiers and horses of his clan, and it would be really unsafe if he didn't go back to his home.

Xue Shao invited Li Dayu to Luoyang, and Li Dayu agreed without even thinking about it.

"I will never forget the Taiping wine you brewed and the Tang beauties with all kinds of style." Li Dayu almost drooled when he said these words, "No matter when you want to go back to Luoyang, remember to send someone to call me!" ”

Xue Shao smiled: "If you have time, you should go to Fengzhou to see Guo Yuanzhen." ”

"I don't need you to say it, I'll definitely go too!" Li Dayu laughed, "If it weren't for the more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, I would have gone with him when he left before." General Guo is so funny, I feel like he is my long-lost brother! ”

Xue Shao laughed speechlessly, where did he learn such stupid words?

Li Dayu left.

In the blink of an eye, the weather is gradually getting hotter in the blink of an eye. It's an ordeal for those on the march, but it's a great time for cement to come in handy.

The most difficult "foundation-building" project in the Dadu Protectorate was finally completed, and everyone from Xue Shao to the craftsmen breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the matter will be very simple, the craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty will easily build this military town, and build a fortress to defend against the enemy at the mouth of the Xue Ne garrison, as well as a number of beacon towers and arrow towers.

These things, basically Xue Shao don't have to worry about anything anymore.

After several months of hard work, the development and application of cement finally achieved initial success. Although the process was extremely difficult, Xue Shao's harvest was also quite huge. In addition to laying the foundations of the Togofu, he also cultivated a team capable of making and using cement. Xue Shao pulled them out separately, set up a special team called the "Engineer Battalion" and put them under his command. Among them, there are more than a dozen people who have received special compensation from Xue Shao and mastered the "core technology" of cement, of course, they are all Xue Shao's personal subordinates.

For most people in the Tang Dynasty, it was much easier to make cement than to learn the secret code of Lantian. More than half of those dozen or so tribes were illiterate ordinary peasants, but through a long period of continuous study, they also mastered the Lantian secret code, and became the top scouts of this era. Now, through new learning, they have become special talents who have mastered cross-generational skills.

In a phrase similar to an advertising slogan, learning changes lives, and the future is infinitely possible.

Xue Shao believes that after he sows the seeds of this batch of science and technology, it will not be long before cement will gradually become popular in the era of Datang. Not only popularization, but also through the efforts of more people to study and continuously improve, the quality of cement will definitely get better and better, and the production efficiency will continue to improve. There is no doubt that it can give Datang great advantages in the military and construction fields, and at the same time it is a potentially great asset.

Such a good thing, how can you forget Yu Hongye?

Therefore, within two days of the foundation of the Dadu Protectorate, Xue Shao sent a small army to escort a group of craftsmen from the engineer battalion to the two surrendered cities in the middle and west. They will help Guo Yuanzhen and Zhang Renyuan build the new city of Junzhen. There are also a few of them, who will take Xue Shao's private gift of a large amount of "settlement money" and his handwritten letter, go to Helong to find Yu Hongye and serve under her command from then on, and will not return to the army.

The four old tribes of scouts sent to Helong, they were no strangers to Yu Hongye, and more importantly, they were worthy of Xue Shao's trust. In fact, this is equivalent to Xue Shao having arranged the life after retirement for these meritorious scouts who have followed him for the longest time. Helong is their hometown, and Yu Hongye is a good benefactor who is generous and generous. I believe that with the skills they have mastered now, they will definitely be able to live a rich and nourishing life under Yu Hongye's hands. At the same time, they can also become the right-hand men of Yu Hongye's side, which is exactly what Xue Shao is looking forward to.

After the battle of Nuo Zhenshui, there were only thirteen old scouts left around Xue Shao. The departure of those old buddies made Guo An and the others sad for a while. But no one can really live on war all their lives, and no matter how brave a soldier is, there is no guarantee that he will die or become crippled, even if he is very lucky, he will always be safe and sound, and people will have a day when they will completely grow old and can no longer fight. Therefore, Guo An and the others are especially grateful for this humane arrangement made by Xue Shao.

"There are many generals in the world who cherish their soldiers, but many of them are limited to the battlefield. In the final analysis, it's just buying and using. Guo An said to several other old scouts, "But Xue Shuai has always been from the bottom of his heart, cherishing and caring for us brothers in robes, whether on the battlefield or outside the battlefield. Even if we become cripples of no use for war, he will remain the same. ”

More than 100,000 Tang troops were stationed in Heisha, and there was no much movement except for digging earth and building houses. Despite this, they were always a great threat to the Turks. So during this time, there was not much movement on the side of the Turkic Khanate. They've been on the lookout for anything else.

This is what Xue Shao wants. If you want to build three surrendered cities, timing is key. Don't look at the hundreds of thousands of troops now, but if there is really no such army to sit in the black sand, the Turks will not hesitate to rush over and seize their capital. Once the war breaks out, the project of the surrendered city will surely come to naught.

So Xue Shao has been waiting patiently, even though the summer here is very boiling. Until the completion of the Mokou Chengguan and the main construction of the city wall of the Dadu Protectorate were about to end, he did not mention the matter of marching into the army to attack or withdrawing the troops back to China.

The soldiers have been away from home for a long time and have nothing to do, so it is inevitable that they will be homesick and slack. Xue Shao told them to have fun, consume excess energy and dispel homesickness. Polo and soccer became their first choice. Polo is generally only played by nobles, but football, Xue Shao once used it to set off a craze among the Qianqi and Yulin Army.

As a result, more than 100,000 troops played football in addition to training and patrolling. Xue Shao also offered some rewards to encourage them to compete in various competitions.

The uneasiness in the army was replaced by a passionate football craze. All the generals are people who lead the troops, and they all know that "the fatigue of the division veterans" is a taboo in the use of troops, but it is very difficult to avoid and solve these problems. Now, they all admired Xue Shao's brilliant stroke, and they vigorously promoted it among the troops under their command.

It is conceivable that football will soon become an important sporting activity in the Datang Army. In addition to fitness, it even has a strategic dimension.

In the evening of that day, Xue Shao had nothing to do and was chatting with several generals and gossiping. A fast horse came from the south, bringing with him a letter with a faint scent of flowers.

"It's finally here!" Xue Shao blurted out.

The generals couldn't help but ask: "Xue Shuai, what's coming?" ”

Xue Shao smiled mysteriously and unfolded the letter, Shangguan Wan'er's handwritten letter. She told Xue Shao that after Li Wen was escorted to Luoyang, she confessed that the Li Tang royal family was going to rebel. In fact, long before Li Wen arrived in Beijing, someone else had already gone to tell the whistle, and that person was named Li Ai, who was one of the core members of the rebel organization.

As a result, the imperial court had completely grasped all the movements of the rebel group, but Wu Zetian did not immediately arrest people. After all, these people from the Li Tang royal family still have a high reputation among the common people. If there is no conclusive evidence, Wu Zetian will not dare to kill or arrest people indiscriminately. If they deny it to death, it will become a "trumped-up" crime.

Such a crime is not suitable for a large number of royal families.

In other words, to catch a thief is to catch the stolen goods. As long as the Li Tang royal family has not officially raised troops for a day, Wu Zetian will not be able to move them for a day. However, the Li Tang royal family did not win Xue Shao's support and promises, so they have been hesitating and hesitating.

It looks like it's going to turn into a rambling dark war. However, this is difficult for Wu Zetian, the master of power schemes. On the one hand, she strictly guarded the news of Li Wen and Li Ai's leaks, and on the other hand, she instigated her eldest nephew Wu Chengsi to play a good trick in Luoyang.

This good trick has been recorded in many historical records. That is, someone fished out a stone from Luoshui, and there were several words on it: "Our Lady is in Yongchang Emperor's Industry". In the ancient Chinese legend, the river out of Tuluo out of the book, this is a great omen. The eight words on the stone are undoubtedly alluding to Wu Zetian as the emperor to whom the destiny of heaven belongs.

Wu Zetian picked up this stone and made a big article, she first came to Luoshui to worship this stone, and also changed the name of the Tang Dynasty to "Heavenly Treasure Map", and added a "Holy Mother God Emperor" honorific title to herself. At the same time, she ordered all the Li Tang royal family to go to Luoyang together to participate in the great festival she held for this stone.

The Li Tang royal family, who had already been frightened birds, couldn't hold back at all, and finally decided to raise troops against the military. But they also lack sufficient strength and good organization, and no one is good at commanding troops to fight. However, their biggest death problem is that people's hearts are not aligned. When it came to the appointed day to raise troops, only a few sporadic royal families really launched troops. Most of the others didn't really respond for fear and selfishness.

Such a rebellion was really small compared to the Yangzhou rebellion, and it was easily suppressed by Wu Zetian, who had already been well prepared. Wang Xiaojie, the general who commanded the troops to quell the rebellion, but before he really fought the rebels, the rebels were already in chaos and collapsed without a fight. The heads of the rebel leader Li Zhen, the king of Yue, and his sons were quickly sent to Luoyang.

Shangguan Wan'er's letter probably mentioned these major events. But she was very careful, and she didn't forget to tell Xue Shao a "little thing" that he was most concerned about: Xue Shao's eldest brother Xue Yizhi was "under house arrest" by Princess Taiping not so politely from the first day Li Wen returned to Beijing. He has nothing to do with this brown rebellion. Not only that, but Xue Yi was also rewarded by the Empress Dowager Wu for taking the initiative to expose Li Wen before-he was promoted, and he was the squire of the Winter Official (Ministry of Industry).

Xue Shao let out a long breath. A boulder that had been pressing on his heart for many years landed with the arrival of Shangguan Wan'er's letter with the fragrance of flowers.